Saturday, December 05, 2015

Buying a new computer? Things to note on initial setup [TIP]

It is that time of year (Christmas) when thoughts of surprising a loved one with a new computer and so you find yourself in the electronics department scratching your head on what you should be getting....well that is for another post.. this post is based on the fact you already have it home and are ready to turn it on for the first time.

Pretty much all new computers will have Windows 10 but there are still some that you can get at a discount that still have Windows 8.1 on them, which is entitled to a "free upgrade" so long as you do so before the end of June 2016. Regardless of the operating system, every computer has a number of questions it prompts you with as you start it up for the first time. This is called the OOBE or "out of box experience" and each and every computer manufacturer have different questions for you, including those that come with every computer's operating system brought to you by Microsoft. If you haven't already turned it on and are wanting things done for you, just contact me and I can get you started the right way! If you want to proceed on your own then I might still be able to give you some assistance below....

The first few questions are typically 'your name' and 'what are you going to call the computer', then it starts asking you for email address, etc.. this is so that you are signed in to the microsoft account (learn how to bypass this or change to local account after you have already passed this point and are now set to always enter your microsoft account password upon start up of your computer here).  Then there are those questions that want you to 'agree' to the licensing of the third party software such as McAfee LiveSafe (security and antivirus) which in my opinion you DO NOT WANT!  Most of this is trialware software, where you get 30 days and then after that you have to PAY for antivirus security.. something you can get for free with AVAST Antivirus.

Basically you want to get to the desktop where you can then start the uninstall process of the built in trialware and other malware/spyware that comes with the computer and for that you will want to use a program call PCDECRAPIFIER. Then you will want to get set up with CCLEANER and MALWAREBYTES as your maintenance and cleaning software, as well as installing AVAST antivirus. 

Alternatively of course, if you want to bypass all of this technical jargon and have something do it for you, that is where I can help.. simply contact me and I will point you in the right direction!  Computers don't have to be difficult to use but right out of the box, they most certainly will be, thanks to the advertisers and third party software that gets installed in hopes that you don't know any better and simply start using their products... to the point where you are prompted for your credit card and don't know any better. DO NOT let this be you!  The only time you should be purchasing a service would be for 24/7 offsite backup which I highly recommend and for that I suggest BACKBLAZE.

This is where I can be of some value for you as I will point you in the right direction with regards to what is best for your computer depending on how you plan to use your device.  Just contact me and I will help make your new computer purchase a technical nightmare.






FYI: 3/23/16
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